A photovoltaic system provides electrical energy by means of photovoltaics.
High electric currents can occur during operation of the photovoltaic systems and, in some circumstances, can lead to considerable power losses by interacting with defective and/or damaged components of the photovoltaic system. This relates, in particular, to contact resistances of contacts of connecting points of modules to one another and electrical line connections.
In order to ensure normal operation, it is necessary to monitor photovoltaic systems in order to detect the occurrence of events which impair the normal operation of the device.
By way of example, such events may include theft of one or more components of a photovoltaic system, destruction of one or more components of a photovoltaic system, change in the conductivity of one or more electrical connections of a photovoltaic system (for example contact aging and/or a contact fault), deterioration of the efficiency of one or more photovoltaic modules (degradation), installation faults, for example faulty connection of one or more components during the installation of a photovoltaic system, and/or shadowing, for example shadowing of one or more photovoltaic modules of a photovoltaic system.
The above list of events potentially impairing normal operation of a photovoltaic system does not claim to be complete, and in fact represents an exemplary choice of events impairing normal operation of a photovoltaic system.